Listen to this articleA NEW witness says he saw Madeleine McCann prime suspect Christian B running from an alleged rape scene.
And the figure, all in black, was earlier seen by others climbing up an apartment block to break into Hazel Behan’s room.
The new information will be heard in a German court next year when Christian B, 47, faces charges of raping Irish student Hazel in June 2004 in Praia da Rocha, Portugal.
It is 10 miles from the Praia da Luz apartment from where Madeleine, three, vanished in May 2007 while on holiday with her family, from Rothley, Leics.
A source said of the 2004 sighting near Hazel’s flat: “A new witness has contacted the police.
“He was starting his early morning shift at a nearby hotel and said he saw a man dressed in black running from the apartment block.
“He could see the man because he had taken off a mask and he identified him to police as Christian B.”
As well as the rape trial in Braunschweig, Christian B also faces claims of a string of sex attacks on the Algarve between 2000 and 2017.
Last year Hazel, 40, who was a holiday rep, waived her right to anonymity.
She said: “I always said my attacker was a German with piercing blue eyes and a voice I would recognise immediately.
“When Christian B’s name was released in connection to the Madeleine case, I knew it was him. It made me sick.”
We asked prosecutor Hans-Christian Wolters for comment.
